Ballers Use Franchise Record-Tying Seven Stolen Bases in Shutout Win over Woodpeckers Saturday

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Three pitchers combined for eight strikeouts and nine shutout innings while four different batters teamed up for a franchise record-tying seven stolen bases to hand the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (64-60) a, 9-0, victory over the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (54-71) Saturday night at Atrium Health Ballpark.

Three swiped bags from Wilber Sanchez, two from Eddie Park, and one each from Ryan Galanie and Ryan McCarthy gave the Ballers seven stolen bases in a game, the first time since May 1, 2008, in a road game against the then Lakewood Blueclaws.

RHP Peyton Pallette led the charge on the mound for Kannapolis in the shutout win, posting four strikeouts in 3.2 innings, walking four and allowing just one hit. LHP Ben Beutel (W, 6-4) earned his team-high sixth victory of the season with 2.1 clean innings of work, striking out one Woodpecker along the way. RHPs Horacio Andujar and Emerson Talavera also contributed to the shutout, combining to allow just two baserunners in the final third of the game.

Jacob Gonzalez notched his third game in a row with an RBI on Saturday night, kicking off the scoring in the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly to center field to put the home side ahead, 1-0.

Three more runs crossed the plate in the bottom of the second inning on a McCarthy RBI double, a Sanchez RBI single, and a throwing error by Woodpeckers catcher Garret Guillemette that let Sanchez cross the plate to push the Ballers lead to, 4-0.

Park and Calvin Harris teamed up for two more runs in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single and an RBI groundout, respectively, to boost Kannapolis’ advantage to, 6-0, after four innings.

After going scoreless in the fifth and sixth, Jhoneiker Betancourt re-lit the flame on offense in the bottom of the seventh with a hard-hit RBI double to right field, handing the Cannon Ballers another insurance run at, 7-0, after seven innings.

Jordan Sprinkle completed the night of scoring for Kannapolis with an RBI double to left field, pushing Rikuu Nishida and Gonzalez around the basepaths and extending the lead to, 9-0. The three-quarter-dozen run lead proved to be too much Fayetteville to overcome at the plate.

Just one more home game remains in the 2023 Kannapolis Cannon Ballers season, with the Ballers wrapping up their six game homestand on Sunday night against the Fayetteville Woodpeckers. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m., with former Wake Forest RHP Seth Keener scheduled to make the start on the bump.

Fans can purchase tickets for Sunday’s game at kcballers.com or at the F&M Bank Box Office located at Atrium Health Ballpark.